Holder for self-inking stamps

ABSTRACT

A self-inking stamp holder, said stamps comprising a box-like frame or case with openings on at least two opposite sides and a slide containing an overturnable stamping member and an inking pad, elastically sliding within said frame or case between the openings. The holder is formed by an upright and a plurality of main wings extending obliquely in a parallel relationship from at least one face thereof each wing being capable of holding a stamp. Retaining means are associated to each of the main wings for abutting on said frame or case, when held from a respective main wing, from the opposite side of the main wing. To firmly secure the stamp in position thereon.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 ofinternational application PCT/IT00/00156,filed Jul. 2, 1999, whichdesignated the United States, and which international application waspublished under PCT Article 21(2) in the English language.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a self-inking stamp holder.

BACKGROUND ART

As is known, self-inking stamps are formed by a box shaped frame or casewith two diametrically opposed openings and a slider engaging with oneof said openings and elastically movable to and from the oppositeopening.

The slider contains an inking pad and an overturnable stamping elementand is connected to the frame through a kinematic motion which, as aresult of the movement of the slider, causes the stamping element tooverturn from a rest position, in which the stamping element is incontact with the inking pad, and a stamping position, rotated 180° withrespect to the rest position, in which as a result of the slidermovement the stamping element comes forward from the frame opening. Themovement of the slider occurs as a consequence of a pressure exertedthereon against elastic means keeping the slider in the rest position.

Self-inking stamps have a widespread use in view of the fact that,contrary to conventional hand stamps, they do not need for a separatetank containing the inking pad. This makes the stamping operation easierand allows the stamp to be transported in a bag or even in a pocket,without any risk of soiling the nearby objects or the garment, andwithout the need of having the inking pad tank available for the use ofthe stamps.

However, while as regards the conventional hand stamps there have beenmade available a lot of collecting devices to which the stamps are hungto be kept in a tidy way and to be easily retrieved, a similar devicedoes not exist for the self-inking stamps, which, therefore, are usuallykept on the working tables and desks without any prefixed order, thusmaking very difficult to find the stamp which is being looked for.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device for holdingself-inking stamps, by means of which they can be kept in an orderly wayand little room, thus overcoming the above mentioned drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide aself-inking stamp holder of the above mentioned type, which can supporta relatively large number of stamps, while being of a minimum size, andallow for each stamp to be quickly identified.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These objects are reached with the self-inking stamp holder according tothe present invention comprising an upright and a plurality of parallelmain wings extending obliquely from at least a face thereof, each mainwing being fit for holding a stamp. Retaining means are associated toeach main wing, said means abutting on the outer side of the case orframe of the stamp from the opposite side of the corresponding main wingto firmly secure the stamp in position thereon. In a preferredembodiment of the invention the upright extends from a support base towhich it is pivotally connected and by means of which the holder can beset on a flat horizontal surface. In another embodiment of theinvention, the upright comprises hook means for hanging the holder to avertical surface.

Preferably, the retaining means are formed by auxiliary wings extendingfrom the upright, each auxiliary wings being arranged above acorresponding main wing, in either a parallel or divergent relationshipwith respect to the main wing.

Further characteristics and/or advantages of the self-inking stampholder according to the present invention will appear clearly from thefollowing description of embodiments thereof, given as non-limitingexamples with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevational side view of the self-inking stamp holderaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational front view of the self-inking stamp holder inthe direction of arrow F of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the holder according to the previousfigures;

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the holder taken along line III—IIIof FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a variation of the holder of the invention is an elevationalfront view suited for being attached to a wall;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a further variation of the holder of theinvention;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a differently shaped wing for the holder ofthe invention;

FIG. 8 is a front view of an adjustable width wing;

FIG. 9 is a partial side view of the holder equipped with the adjustablewidth wing of FIG. 8.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the holder for self-inking stampsaccording to the present invention comprises a upright 1 of asubstantially parallelepiped, hollow shape, pivotally connected to abase 2 that allows the holder to be set on a plane. Main wings 3 extendsinclined upwardly from each of the opposite faces of upright 1 of largerwidth, in a parallel and spaced relationship.

Respective auxiliary wings 4 extend immediately above main wing 3 andparallel thereto.

Each of main wings 3 constitutes an hanging means to which a self-inkingstamp is hung through its box-like frame or case, while auxiliary wing 4abuts on the outer side of the box-like frame or case to counterbalancethe weight of the stamp on main wing 3 which would result in downwardrotation of the stamp and thus in falling thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, advantageously upright 1 is a hollow bodywith one or more chambers, generally indicated at 5, for housing pens,pencils, and the like. If the depth of a chamber 5 is greater than theaverage length of a pencil, a movable base 5 a supported by spacers 5 bmay be provided at the bottom of chambers 5.

The pivotal connection between upright 1 and base 2 is obtained by meansof a pair of axially coupled sleeves 6 and 7 extending from base 2 andthe bottom side of upright 1 respectively. Sleeve 6 is formed by threeelastically diverging arms that, once engaged within sleeve 7, radiallyurge against inner wall of sleeve 7 and abut through rounded end thereofagainst an annular projection thus preventing any unwanteddisengagement.

In a variation of the present invention shown in

FIG. 5, the stamp holder comprises a plate 10 from which main andauxiliary wings, parallel and spaced apart, extend as in the previousexample. An hanging member 11 extends form the upper side of plate 10,for example of semi-annular shape, for being engaged with a hook notshown fixed to a wall.

In this case the stamp holder car be hung to a vertical surface.

In another variation of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, the stampholder comprises an upright 20 of quadrilateral section, wherein wings 3and 4 extend from all the four side faces thereof. In particular,shorter first and second wings 3 a and 4 a extend from the pair ofopposed faces of smaller width.

Thanks to this configuration it is possible to use the stamp holder tohold stamps of different sizes. Clearly, first and second wings ofdifferent sizes can also be provided on the same face, as shown forexample in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

The stamp holder according to the invention can be made of metal orplastics according to design and production choices as obvious for aperson skilled in the art.

Wings 3 and 4 can be parallel to each other, as provided for in theembodiments shown in the drawings, or even slightly diverging. Thissolution can be useful to allow for stamps of different manufacturerswith different frame or case thickness to be engaged with wing 3.

Upright 1 can be made of only one member or be formed by modular membersfor example snap-fixed onto one another to increase the height andconsequently the capacity of the stamp holder.

In order to allow stamps of different width to be held by the same wing,the wing can be shaped as shown in FIG. 7, i.e. formed by two parts 12and 13 of different width.

In another variation of the invention shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 the wingshave a variable width according to the needs. To this end transversegrooves 31 shaped as a dovetail are formed on upright 1. Dovetail-shapedroots 32 of two wing members 30 a and 30 b engage in a slightly forcedway within grooves 31, so that the wing members can be slid toward oneanother, or vice versa, to discrease or increase their supporting width.Obviously, any equivalent sliding connection means can be used as analternative to achieve the same purpose.

In a further variation of the invention, wings 3 and 4 can be arrangedat a distance such as to provide a housing for the stamp therebetween.In this case, the support for the stamp by means of the wing is notachieved by holding the frame or case to wing 3, but by housing theframe or case on wing 3. In this case connection side walls could beprovided between wings 3 and 4 to close them laterally thus formingsomething similar to a drawer.

In order to increase the friction between wings 3 and 4 from one sideand frame or case of the stamp from the other side and to further reducethe risk of accidental fall of the stamp from the holder, the wingsurface can be at least partially coated with an high frictioncoefficient material.

Further variations and/or modifications can be brought to theself-inking stamp holder according to the present invention, withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A holder for self-inking stamps, (said stampscomprising a box-like frame or case with openings on at least twoopposite sides and a slider containing an overturnable stamping memberand an inking pad, elastically sliding within said frame or case betweensaid openings, characterized in that it comprises an upright (1) and aplurality of main wings (3) extending obliquely in a parallelrelationship from at least one face thereof, each wing being capable ofholding a stamp, retaining means (4) being associated to each of themain wings (3) for abutting on said frame or case, when held from arespective main wing, from the opposite side of said main wing, tofirmly secure the stamp in position thereon.
 2. The holder according toclaim 1, further comprising a base (2) pivotally connected to saidupright for supporting said upright (1) on a flat surface.
 3. The holderaccording to claim 1, wherein said upright further comprises hook meansfor hanging said upright to a wall.
 4. The holder according to one ofthe previous claims, wherein said plurality of main wings (3) extendsfrom at least two opposite faces of said upright.
 5. The holderaccording to claim 1, wherein said retaining means associated to each ofsaid main wings (3) comprise an auxiliary wing (4) extending from saidupright immediately above said main wing.
 6. The holder according toclaim 5, wherein said auxiliary wing (4) is parallel to the respectivemain wing (3).
 7. The holder according to claim 5, wherein saidauxiliary wing (4) is diverging with respect to said main wing (3). 8.The holder according to claim 1, wherein said main wing (3) is fit forengaging with one of said opening of said box or case of the stamp,which thus hangs therefrom, said auxiliary wing (4) abutting on theouter side of said frame or case to balance the weight of the stamp. 9.The holder according claim 1, wherein the distance between each mainwing and the respective retaining means is larger than the thickness ofa stamp which can be placed therebetween.
 10. The holder according toclaim 1, wherein from said upright there extend main wings of differentwidth to hold stamps of correspondingly different sizes.
 11. The holderaccording to claim 1, wherein said main wings and said auxiliary wingsare movably connected to said upright.
 12. The holder according to claim11, wherein said main wings are formed by at least to wing members (30a, 30 b) slidable on said upright.
 13. The holder according to claim 11or 12, wherein on said upright there are formed parallel,dovetail-shaped grooves within which slidably engage correspondinglyshaped roots of said main and auxiliary wings.
 14. The holder accordingto claim 1, wherein said main wings and said auxiliary wings are atleast partially coated with an high friction coefficient material. 15.The holder according to claim 1, wherein said wings are formed in twoparts of different width